Plans Rarely Survive Contact with Party-Goers
by sanctum-c
Summary: Yuffie finds herself sharing a table with Cid and Cloud at the Avalanche post-Meteorfall party.


Written for the prompt:_ Cloud, Yuffie, and Cid just hanging out postgame/movie and talking about mechanical shit? What they're talking about isn't all that important, bikes, airships, washing machines, whatever, the important bit is them bonding with Cid enjoying Cloud's sincerity and Cloud just happy to be included, with Yuffie having built up a close rapport with Cloud by now. Would prefer Dirge of Cerberus not mentioned at all as though it didn't happen._

* * *

Sitting at a table with Cid and Cloud was not an intended outcome of Yuffie's plans for the evening. Said plan had few specifics to it, but did operate under the general notion of not involving Cid. A few reasons for that, but the most important at the moment: he remained the member of her sprawling extended family she got on least well with. Cloud she had a lot of time for - long since mellowed from his harsher, dismissive attitudes on his first visit to Wutai.

But plans - according to one ancestor or another - rarely survived contact with the enemy. Or, in this case, party-goers. A whole year since Meteorfall. At least eleven months since Shinra conceded defeat and effectively ceased to exist as a nuisance in everyone's lives. Hard to run a military and maintain an iron grip on the world with most of the chief executives missing or confirmed dead; the suspicious HR division who knew where; their core business (Mako production) no longer working.

Still odd for Avalanche to get what they wanted and at the same time have more work. Bringing down Shinra – or perhaps in spite of it – lead to a need to build up again. The Planet had a better shot at life, so long as human-kind did the necessary and didn't inflict too much extra damage in the mean-time.

Getting distracted from the supposed celebration. And, with Marlene long since in bed, the excuse for more drinking. If anyone would let her.

Gaze fixed on Cid, Yuffie snaked out one hand to slide Cloud's glass across the table. Cloud would never object. Cid on the other hand would make an effort to remind her of both youth and legal illegibility of alcohol consumption. As if that meant anything at this point. Somewhere behind her, Elmyra let out a raucous laugh, one soon joined by Tifa. Maybe after a few sips she could slip away from Cid. Or perhaps they could flag down Shera to come give him something else to focus on so she and Cloud could go enjoy the rest of the party.

But, Cloud showed no desire to leave Cid behind. Not paying much attention to his drink (a little more and she could move it down to her lap), and fully invested in the current conversation.

"Yeah, we can get a bike working." Of course. Mechanical stuff. What (besides space) would have gotten Cid to engage in conversation? He took a drag on his cigarette. "Converting from a Mako engine on something that small shouldn't be too hard." Cid put down his glass; half-full of ale. Perfectly safe from Yuffie; how could he – or anyone – drink the stuff? Her few previous attempts to stomach it never ended well. There also remained the minor issue of Cid never losing track of his beverages. "You sure you're up to it?"

Cloud smiled and leant forward. "I drove a bike in the infantry."

"And to get out of Midgar, right?" Yuffie let go of Cloud's glass as he and Cid focused onto her. "Sounded like something out of an action movie."

"Something like that." Cloud's shoulders tensed and relaxed. "Not had the chance to drive a bike since."

"Shoulda asked Dio for one as well as the buggy." Yuffie slouched back. "And air-con!" She pointed at Cid. "You are so lucky we'd had to ditch that thing when you met us."

Cloud grinned at her, but Cid frowned. "You rode a bike out of the Shinra building?" He scratched his head. "Midgar didn't look that different when we went back. Unless there was some other road, that's one hell of a strange route to the highway."

"We, ah, took the direct route." Cloud glanced at Yuffie as if for clarification. Still a shame she missed the earlier part of the adventure. From Aeris's version of events, Cloud's 'direct route' covered a whole wealth of detail, destruction and chaos.

"Meaning out of the window on a bike that wasn't yours!" An important point. Yes, Yuffie had stolen every piece of Materia Avalanche possessed at one point. On the other hand her companions committed plenty of crimes before and after she met them. Getting past the bombing campaign, forgery, conspiracy, a number of instances of trespassing, Avalanche's theftsw included: one bike, one truck, one complete set of Shinra uniforms and almost (almost) the Tiny Bronco.

"I left the bike at the outskirts with the truck." Cloud blinked. "Wait, they were Shinra's! Why am I trying to make this sound less bad?" He cocked his head to one side.

Cid shook his head, grinning, fixing Yuffie with an overly judge-y stare. "And here I thought Gainsborough was the other light-fingered one." Her invocation had - for a time - only ever sparked sadness for Avalanche. A year plus removed, easier to talk about her and laugh. Especially whenever her extraordinary lack of scruples came up. "If I knew Avalanche were all thieves..."

"You'd come with us anyway." Yuffie smirked. "You wanted in."

Cid seemed to mull this over. He nodded and exhaled a new plume of smoke. "Anyway. At least since you know what you're doing I don't have to worry 'bout you crashing and burning on this bike project." He hunched forward. "So you were in the mounted division?" Cloud nodded. "Remember them. Maniacs and reckless. Explains a lot." Cloud flushed. "But- How'd you wind up at Nibelheim with Sephiroth?"

A nervous smile from Cloud. "I got reassigned."

"What for?" Previously unheard juicy gossip?

He glanced to Yuffie. "Unauthorised modifications to company equipment." A bit disappointing all things considered.

"Guessing it was getting it running faster?" Cloud nodded. Should have known; he was a speed freak. Cid sighed. "Should have been in the space division. No one got kicked off the project for making something better. Or for any reason." A slight hitch in his smile. He glanced somewhere behind Yuffie; good chance at Shera. "Maybe not the best policy, but it was how we rolled. Shame we were winding down when you joined up; could have done with someone like you during our hey-day."

Cloud held up both his hands. "Not sure I would be who you wanted. No qualifications. And no training in anything space." He sighed. "I signed up to Shinra when I was fourteen."

"But completed the training and able to successfully modify a bike, in, what under two years?" Cloud nodded. "And I doubt Shinra were so blasé you got no maintenance training on top of that?"

"I knew how to keep it running at least."

Yuffie nudged him with her elbow; the movement covered the point her hand closed the distance and seized his glass. "You're underselling yourself." That earned her a blank look. "C'mon! Vogel said you did an amazing job keeping the buggy running as long as you did. It was only the fact that half the engine needed replacing that scuppered us in the end."

Cloud slumped. "That really feels like damning with faint praise." He frowned. "And I couldn't help them. I didn't know what half of the components were called." Cloud's anxiety got the better of him when the Cosmo Canyon techs undertook the buggy repairs ; they gently chased him off more than once. Potentially another factor in Bugenhagen's co-opting of him and Avalanche to resolve part of Nanaki's past.

"Buggys are buggys and bikes are bikes." Cid shrugged. "Still; sounds like you might have an aptitude for this kind of thing. So you didn't know how a buggy's engine differed. You were, what, five years displaced at that point?" Another point easier to discuss with the passage of time. Still a faint wince from Cloud, but he hid it better now – possible to dare hope the effect minimized internally and externally.

"Right." Cloud nodded.

"So." Cid sat up straighter. "Having someone else around with actual knowledge of bike maintenance helps a lot. The engine conversion- Hey I can go through that with you if you like." A smile and nod from Cloud. "But there's more to it. If you wanna know what components to get, what'll be strong enough, how to put it together..." He took a long drag, musing. "Reckon we could get it done in under a week."

"A week?" A breathless reply from Cloud and a light - other than Mako - in his eyes.

"Assuming we can get the parts and batteries and such, but yeah. Absolutely." Cid drained his glass; Yuffie took the opportunity to sip at Cloud's drink. Okay, sneaking his drink might not have been the best plan; this one tasted of fire and smoke. Whisky perhaps?

"You-" Her throat burned. Push through. "-you look like all your birthdays came at once," she croaked. Cloud only nodded faintly. Yuffie put her hand on his arm. "He's very touched. You know that right?"

Cid grinned either not noticing or not caring about her surreptitious drinking. "Man after my own heart. And, hey, if it all goes well – and you don't have anything else to do – could always use another hand for my projects."

Cloud shifted, moving closer to the table. "I had a few ideas. Not just bike ones but-"

Yuffie sneaked his glass back onto the table and grabbed his forearm. "Great, but are you going to remember the important one?"

"Important one?" Cid narrowed his eyes.

"Travel sickness compensation." Yuffie shot a mock glare at them both. "New modes of transport and other things are great, but seriously, do something about those of us with motion sickness!"


End file.
